Monday, January 4, 2016

Upcoming 2016 Dramas to Watch


The great thing about welcoming the new year is looking forward to new dramas. While there aren't really any particular dramas I'm absolutely ecstatic about, some did pique my interest. Maybe some of them might be added in your to-watch list too. I won't be able to write down every single new drama that's been announced to premiere in 2016 since that may be impossible. But the following selection are things that seem interesting to me.

Cheese in the Trap - premieres January 4th on tvN



The casting articles for this drama went a bit wild since the original webtoon has so many ardent fans. After much debate, the final cast includes Park Hae-jinKim Go-eunSeo Kang-joon, and Lee Sung-kyung among others. Ever since the mania of the casting started, I did read some of the webtoon. It was good, but I wouldn't call it amazing. Maybe it's just me. It's a story about a girl in college and her daily struggles. The great thing about the webtoon is that it truly is slice of life with much of its mundanity. But looking at the teaser it might just be yet another romcom. Not that I'm complaining, to be honest. I love me a good romcom. But to those who enjoyed the simplicity of the webtoon might be a bit disappointed. Or not. We'll just see.

Moorim School - premieres January 11th on KBS



I'm actually not the biggest high school drama fan (said the girl who mildly enjoyed Master of Study), but Moorim School sounds interesting since it's set in a martial arts school! I don't know why I'm excited about that. I'm sure the content won't be all too different from other school-based shows, but the fact that the poster looks like the above makes all the difference. The drama stars Lee Hyun-woo, Seo Ye-ji, Hong Bin, and Jung Eugene as some of the students and Shin Hyun-joon as one of the teachers. Not much is known about the actual plot of the show, but I'm assuming it'll be along the lines of other ensemble high school dramas (like Dream High or Master of Study) versus the recent, mostly central story lined dramas like School 2015 or Angry Mom. Actually, I wouldn't know because I didn't watch the last two. I guess we'll see when it actually airs.

Madame Antoine - premieres January 22nd on jTBC



I've heard that Madame Antoine strives to be the second It's Okay That's Love to which I say that's bullshit. Nothing can compare to my love. But I guess what they meant was that it's going to be a drama discussing the human psyche. The drama stars Han Ye-seul and Sung Joon as a fortune teller and a psychiatrist respectfully. One person is dreaming of the perfect love and the other denies its very existence. Han Ye-seul and Sung Joon may seem like an odd couple but the trailer seems promising. I do like Han in comedic roles but not so much for Sung Joon. He tends to come off stiff in lovey dovey fares, and that only works for some of his characters (Can We Get Married? comes to mind). I don't have any expectations for this to be quite honest so I might tune in myself, at least for the first episodes.

Signal - premieres January 22nd on tvN



tvN has had some great luck reeling in big names in its dramas, and Signal might be one of its biggest star magnet yet. Starring Kim Hye-soo, Lee Je-hoon, and Jo Jin-woong, it tells of detectives of past and present connecting with each other through magic radio. Jo Jin-woong is the detective of yesteryear and he is involved in one of the most infamous cases in Korean history, the Hwaseong serial murders. The case inspired two other Korean works including the movie Memories of Murder and drama Gapdong. The unique aspect of this particular drama is that there's a fantasy/sci-fi element in the form of time travel, or at least breaking through the time barrier. Aside from the exciting cast, I'm looking forward to it more especially because the director is Kim Won-suk of Misaeng. His last collaboration with tvN resulted in a fantastic, ground-breaking drama so the expectations are high on this one.

Descendants of the Sun - premieres February on KBS



If there is one drama I'm looking forward to in 2016 it's Descendants of the Sun. It's the first drama for Song Joong-ki since his military enlistment. The drama also stars Song Hye-kyo, Jin Goo, and Kim Ji-won. I'm actually not overly excited about the story. It's a melodrama a bout a soldier and a doctor falling in love in a war-torn country. The writer is Kim Eun-sook who wrote Secret Garden, which was okay, and The Heirs, which I didn't watch but heard mixed comments on. I'm mostly excited for Song Joong-ki's return to TV. The last drama he did was Nice Guy which I thoroughly enjoyed. He's a solid actor in the few works that I've seen him in and it doesn't hurt that he's easy on the eyes. I've actually never watched Song Hye-gyo before, because the dramas she picks up aren't ones I'm interested in. But I've heard both good and bad things about her. At least they're going to be a pretty couple. One thing that's quite interesting about this drama is that it's going to be pre-produced ahead of its airing time, apparently so that it can be aired simultaneously in China. I say that's a good thing because writing episodes based on viewer feedback is never a good thing.

Goodbye Mr. Black - premieres March on MBC


My girl Moon Chae-won is coming back to the small screen in a drama that seem to have trouble finding a home. And while it seems almost no station wants it, the cast remains the same with Miss Moon joined by Lee Jin-wook, Kim Kang-woo, and Song Jae-rim. The drama is an adaptation of a webtoon based on the story of The Count of Monte Cristo. Lee Jin-wook would play a man who was betrayed by a friend and is out to seek revenge involving a fake marriage with Moon Chae-won. There hasn't been any news of the actual production of the drama; they haven't even found a director yet (eek!). I hope things turn out alright.

Indiscreetly Fondly - premieres June on KBS


Another pre-produced work is another KBS drama headlined by Kim Woo-bin and Bae Suzy. The English title of this drama is different on various sources so I'll just go with the one above. For some reason I thought this drama was going to be a romcom, especially since it's airing in romcom prime time of summer. But apparently it's a melo so I might opt out of this one, unless people are saying it's a must watch. Since it stars two big names, I might as well put it in the list.

Now that I've lined them up, I'm actually quite excited to watch a few of them. One of my goals this year is to watch more dramas (and movies) and write more on this blog, but I feel like that's been a goal for each year. Since my schedule has been more lenient these days, I think I can do it. At the very least, I hope to do more First Takes this year, since it seems like I've forgone that last year.

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